Your first posts

Due to the snow day we are not able to set up blogs for this week.  But I would like you to start working on your first posts.  Last week we briefly discussed what topics each of you would cover on your blog (toxicology/pharmacology; environmental science/ecology; medical/health; general cell/molecular; a hybrid blog for the 2 pm class).  You probably know which of these five groups you fall into.  So now it is time to write your first posts.  Here are your assignments for the week:

1. Drop by my office and pick up another handout on good science writing.  I will place these in a box outside my office door by noon on Thursday.
2. Write a post critiquing another science blog post anywhere in the blogosphere.  Use your reading about good science writing to evaluate someone's writing.  You can pick a very well written post and explain why it is so good.  Or pick one that could be better, but explain why.  Be specific.  Cite specific examples and specific ideas from your reading on science writing (are you catching a specificity theme here?). TicTacJoe pointed out a particularly good blog post that he likes. I have one on limpets and global warming that I like (but then I am a little biased). You can critique these or any others that you find. Next week you will use your critique as your first posted blog entry, including a link to the original post.  Be aware that people can trace back to posts that link to theirs.  So you might want to avoid critiquing a post that you would need to trash.
3. Write your own post on something that interests you.  You have been reading (hopefully) lots of science blog posts over the last week.  Now it is time to try your own. Practice the techniques that you have been reading about, but don't get too caught up in making it perfect. But you should proofread and make sure there are no typos or grammatical mistakes.  There is no excuse for that.
4. Keep adding blogs that you like to your Google Reader account.
5. Check out this informative article on blogging from Slate.

For now, write your two posts in Word or some other word processing app.  You will add them to your real blog next week.  

Post any questions, comments or problems about this assignment in the content feed of this post.  And have fun!